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Fiber-Induced Joy

Somehow, I managed to miss every. single. fiber festival this year. When my best friend planned a spontaneous trip to visit me last weekend, I was determined to make both the visit AND the fiber festival I had planned to attend happen. I was up before 6 am (without an alarm! voluntarily! on a Saturday!), was out the door by 7, drove the 2 hours to the New England Fiber Festival, and somehow saw the whole thing in the 2 hours I had before I needed to leave to pick my friend up from the bus. It was a bit rushed but no less awesome!

And of course there were animals! Some Herdwick sheep (one of which was named Afleecia… no joke.), adorable alpaca, and a whole ton of fleeces for sale. I barely restrained myself from buying one. So cool to see so many types of wool in one room!

I was moderately restrained in my purchases (I was pressed for time, after all) and only took home a mere 11 oz. of fiber and one skein of yarn but man are they some really great fiber and yarn!

Calypso approved.

On the left is 5 oz. of a lovely silver-grey llama fiber from West Mountain Farm in Vermont. It feels like a fluffier version of alpaca and I can’t wait to spin it up. Next to that is a precious 1 oz. of cashmere/silk blend from Boreas Farm Cashmere. I plan to spin this into a single and ply it with some quiviut I’m working on, which will basically make the softest, most heavenly little skein of yarn ever. Below that is 1 oz. of beautiful grey plucked angora from Dorchester Farms (no website found). I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with it but would like to try blending it with something else (suggestions welcome). The bright white fluff is 2 oz. silk top from I-forgot-which-booth, just to experiment with since I haven’t spun pure silk before. Below that is a lovely merino/silk DK weight yarn from Bittersweet, so I can knit the Adiri hat for the Indie Designer #Giftalong. Finally, in the box on the right is 2 oz. of Leicester Longwool roving that I didn’t actually want but bought because the owners were so nice and so loved their endangered sheep, I felt bad not buying something and wanted to support their cause. Plus, it’ll just add another breed to my Spinner’s Study!

All in all, it was a successful quickie-festival! And if that wasn’t enough fiber-y delight, when I returned home, the next shipment of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin’ Whorl Club was waiting for me. (Click away if you don’t want to be spoiled!)

This shipment is a fabulous two-fer: one 5 oz. braid of mixed Bluefaced Leicester wool with one 3 oz. braid of 50/50 Merino/silk blend in the colorway Sleep Hollow. It’s a gorgeous mix of greys, blues, greens, and purples — essentially, my favorite colors. This is the shipment that would’ve made me weep with regret if I hadn’t signed up (only slightly exaggerating). I can’t wait to spin this!